A Delray Beach man was arrested Wednesday and charged with lying in a U.S. citizenship application about his participation in a 1982 massacre in Guatemala and has admitted to killing a baby, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Gilberto Jordan, 54, was charged with unlawful procurement of naturalized U.S. citizenship. He was granted the status in 1999 after applying three years prior. Authorities say Jordan lied on his naturalization application about his past foreign military service and criminal role in the massacre of the Guatemalan village of Dos Erres.

When police went to arrest a man at a Greenacres grocery store for choking a woman, they said he resisted them with "inhuman" strength, according to an arrest report. They had to tackle the man and Taser him twice. Greenacres Police said at about 7:30 p.m. on April 10 they received multiple 911 calls about a fight at the Monterrey Supermarket, 5100 Lake Worth Road, in Greenacres. When they arrived, they found a crowd of people flagging them down outside the store and Noel Torres, 34, pinned down by the customer service counter by a group of men, police said.

A Delray Beach man who was formerly a Guatemalan soldier involved in a 1982 village massacre was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for lying on his U.S. citizenship application about his participation in the killings, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gilberto Jordan, 54, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and revocation of his U.S. citizenship, which was granted in 1999. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. Authorities said that Jordan was one of about 60 special forces soldiers known as "Kaibiles" who went to the Guatemalan village of Dos Erres in search of stolen rifles and suspected guerrillas.

A Lauderdale-by-the-Sea couple is accused of smuggling gold from Guatemala to sell at their jewelry business in Hallandale Beach, according to U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer. Natalie Ladin, 61, and Jed Ladin, 65, were arrested Friday and appeared Monday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. They were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to smuggle gold, gold smuggling and arranging the entry of goods with false statements, prosecutors said. Natalie Ladin was the registered owner of Natalie Jewelry Acapulco LLC and did business as Golden Opportunities to buy Guatemalan scrap gold, state records showed.

It was long overdue, but the United States government finally sent a message Guatemala will understand. U.S. military aid to the Central American nation was suspended because of Guatemala`s atrocious record on human rights abuses. The specific outrage causing the U.S. action is the unconscionable failure of Guatemalan authorities to resolve the brutal killing of a U.S. citizen who had lived in Guatemala for 20 years. Nearly six months has passed since the body of Michael DeVine, 49, was found at the side of a road, his hands tied behind his back and his head partly severed.

Gilberto Jordán, a former Guatemalan military commando, admitted in Fort Lauderdale federal court Wednesday that he lied in his U.S. citizenship application by concealing his participation in a massacre that left 251 men, women and children dead in 1982. Minutes after Jordán, 54, of Delray Beach, pleaded guilty, U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch classified him as a danger to the community, revoked his $100,000 bond, told him the court intends to revoke his U.S. citizenship and warned that his plea may lead to his deportation to his homeland.

At the height of its vicious war against Marxist guerrillas and those suspected of helping them, the Guatemalan military kept detailed records of people its units had captured or killed, according to internal army intelligence documents released Wednesday by four human rights organizations. The Guatemalan military has long been accused of killing tens of thousands of civilians in the 36-year civil war that ended in December 1996. The internal documents, however, are the first to detail the military's role in systematically killing rebels and their alleged sympathizers, said Kate Doyle of the National Security Archive, one of the groups releasing the documents.

Detective James Mahoney knew he faced a major obstacle when he was assigned to investigate the murder of a Guatemalan man nearly three weeks ago. "I don't speak Spanish and they don't speak any English. Besides, there were no witnesses," Mahoney said at the time. With Officer Danny Vargas assigned as the translator, the duo worked themselves into the Guatemalan community where Gaspar Felipe Rodriquez was killed. Late Monday, they charged a suspect with murder. Bail has been denied for Miguel Felipe Tomas, 30, of Lantana, who remained in the Palm Beach County Jail late Tuesday on second-degree murder charges.

Roosevelt Middle Magnet School in West Palm Beach captured the Kaleidoscope 2009 Award with its Guatemala Village after winning the same award last year. A rooster greeted guests at the entrance; a volcano smoldered inside; samples of ethnic food; flowers for visitors; and a multitude of historical displays rounded out the visitors ' experience. Roosevelt teacher Solange Colon coordinated the efforts with the Guatemalan Maya Center in Lake Worth, which ultimately involved 200 students and parent volunteers who produced the award-winning showing at the Kaleidoscope multicultural festival in downtown West Palm Beach.

By Kit Bradshaw and George Andreassi Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, February 15, 2007

The president of Guatemala will visit this rural town in western Martin County on Saturday to meet with some of the many residents who trace their roots to his small Central American country. It's believed to be the first time a sitting president of a foreign country has made a formal visit to Indiantown. President Oscar Berger will arrive Saturday to talk to American-born young people of Guatemalan descent and with others living and working in Indiantown. "There is a group of young people in Indiantown who were born here, and they want to connect with young people from Conjuve in Guatemala to have a student exchange," said Tim Steigenga, a professor at Florida Atlantic University's Honors College in Jupiter and a member of Corn Maya, a Hispanic advocacy group.

The 16-year-old boy left his mother behind in Guatemala eight months ago to live with his father in a small Lake Worth apartment on South F Street. The journey was supposed to be the first step in a new life in the United States, but deputies say the boy's father abandoned him four months later, leaving him to fend for himself without help. Following his arrest Tuesday night, the boy's father, 38-year-old Sebastian Nicolas, also of Guatemala, stands charged with child neglect.

The Guatemalan Mayas of Palm Beach County , a quiet subculture of hardworking and often undocumented immigrants, will make a rare public appearance on Saturday when they celebrate the Fiesta of San Miguel Acatan. Wearing colorful native costumes, the Mayas and their children will sing, crown a princess, dance and make offerings for peace in honor of St. Michael, the archangel, said Mario Aguilar, who runs the Escuelita Maya, an after-school program at Highland Elementary School in Lake Worth for 46 immigrant children.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's new community outreach liaison has a message for the migrants in the city: You have rights. All too often, undocumented migrants are victims of crime and do not report it to the police, deputies said, for fear of federal authorities sending them back to their home country. Over the years police departments and the Sheriff's Office have tried to build a bridge into the largely Guatemalan community with a Spanish-speaking officer.

A former Guatemalan special forces soldier, and Delray Beach resident, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison in addition to having his U.S. citizenship revoked for lying about his role in a 1982 massacre in the Guatemalan village of Dos Erres. Gilberto Jordan, 54, pleaded guilty on July 7. When his sentence is completed, he will be handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. According to federal court documents, when Jordan applied to become a U.S. citizen in September 1996, he denied serving in the Guatemalan military or committing any crimes.

When a federal court in California blocked the deportation of an undocumented Guatemalan woman this week, the case resonated in Palm Beach County . Lesly Yajayra Perdomo, 34, insisted that Guatemalan society is so dangerous for women under 40 that, for no other reason than her sex and age, she faced the threat of physical harm if forced to return to her native country. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with enough of her argument that it sent her case back for further review.

Gilberto Jordán, a former Guatemalan military commando, admitted in Fort Lauderdale federal court Wednesday that he lied in his U.S. citizenship application by concealing his participation in a massacre that left 251 men, women and children dead in 1982. Minutes after Jordán, 54, of Delray Beach, pleaded guilty, U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch classified him as a danger to the community, revoked his $100,000 bond, told him the court intends to revoke his U.S. citizenship and warned that his plea may lead to his deportation to his homeland.

LA LUCHA, Guatemala -- Reports of fighting between leftist rebels and army troops have increasingly reached the public, piercing an image that Guatemalan guerrilla forces had been reduced to small isolated groups of bandits staging sporadic attacks in remote areas of the country. In the western highland providence of San Marcos, Juan Sebastian and some 20 other people that were holding a religious meeting in a home hit the dirt when they heard gunfire and explosions and felt vibrations from bombs being dropped by Guatemalan air force planes.

Gaspar Francisco came out of the jungle, with his strange language and his stone-age skills, looking for refuge from a bloody war. He told tales of being caught in fighting between the Guatemalan army and the shadowy Marxist guerrillas that his fellow Indians called "the people among the trees." Francisco eventually sneaked into the United States and found shelter in Martin County picking fruit. Now the federal government has labeled Francisco an illegal immigrant and wants to deport the Kanjobal Indian to Guatemala.

A Delray Beach man who was formerly a Guatemalan soldier involved in a 1982 village massacre was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for lying on his U.S. citizenship application about his participation in the killings, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gilberto Jordan, 54, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and revocation of his U.S. citizenship, which was granted in 1999. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. Authorities said that Jordan was one of about 60 special forces soldiers known as "Kaibiles" who went to the Guatemalan village of Dos Erres in search of stolen rifles and suspected guerrillas.

A Delray Beach man was arrested Wednesday and charged with lying in a U.S. citizenship application about his participation in a 1982 massacre in Guatemala and has admitted to killing a baby, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Gilberto Jordan, 54, was charged with unlawful procurement of naturalized U.S. citizenship. He was granted the status in 1999 after applying three years prior. Authorities say Jordan lied on his naturalization application about his past foreign military service and criminal role in the massacre of the Guatemalan village of Dos Erres.